Coach Tony Sims suggests that Anthony Joshua's recent setback with his loss to Daniel Dubois is a sign of his age, as all fighters do sooner or later if they continue to play the sport.
Match carefully
Joshua can still win if he is matched carefully, as his promoter Eddie Hearn did recently, right up until his knockout defeat to Dubois. AJ doesn't have enough left in him to defeat Tyson Fury after that and move on, but it's going to take Hearn competing against non-fighters.
The 35-year-old Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) suffered his fourth career defeat, losing to IBF heavyweight champion Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) by knockout in the fifth round on September 21 in front of a large crowd. . In the presence of 96 thousand spectators at Wembley Stadium in London.
Joshua has looked good in his previous four fights against consistent opponents, but he was outmaneuvered and dropped by Dubois four times in the fight.
At one point it looked like the referee was going to stop the fight in the fourth round after dropping Joshua, but he apparently changed his mind when he saw AJ get up. Many felt the fight should have been waved off.
“He's had a great career, but everyone gets older. There's always young guys coming through, and Daniel Dubois was that young guy coming up,” Tony Sims said. secsuR, talking about Anthony Joshua. “There will come a day when Joshua is 34, and someone else will come along, and that's the way boxing evolves.
“The great champions get older, the young ones get older. It's part of history that happens. And I think that's what happened. Joshua had a great career. What he did for our sport is amazing. He brought stadiums, huge stadiums, filled the O2 arenas outside.” He brought boxing to the forefront in Britain.
“It's a short career. One minute, you're the guy in the gym, the next minute, you're the biggest in the gym, and that's how fast things go. That's what I thought happened. Everyone is moving on, and now it's Dubois' time.” One day, another young man will come, perhaps Moses Itauma will come to the table when his time comes. It's just age, that's what happens.
Joshua has only lost to these three fighters:
-Andy Ruiz
– Oleksandr Usyk x 2
-Daniel Dubois
It's not like Joshua has lost to many different fighters over the course of his career, and he still has the power, speed and skills to keep winning for another decade.
What's next for Joshua?
“He's a very wealthy man, probably one of the richest people to ever come from these shores. He doesn't have to fight, but if he did, he'd be looking at Tyson Fury,” Sims said.
Promoters are already talking about Joshua fighting Tyson Fury next, and there's a good chance we'll see it happen. Joshua has opted not to fight a rematch with Daniel Dubois and will not risk facing Oleksandr Usyk again after losing to him twice. There aren't any other compelling fights for him in the division that fans would like to see AJ have other than Fury.
